ABC's of Gardening: Maple tree, missing bark, seems beyond repair

Saturday

Aug 16, 2008 at 2:00 AM

Q: I have a maple tree at my summer home that has a large area of bark missing and the underlying wood is soft. The tree is alive, but I am concerned about the "open wound." This started about two years ago with the bark falling off. We put an insecticide on the area, but I don't think it helped. We had an arborist look at it and he said to take it down. We really want to keep it if we can. Can it be saved? H.G., Kauneonga Lake

Marianna Quartararo

Q: I have a maple tree at my summer home that has a large area of bark missing and the underlying wood is soft. The tree is alive, but I am concerned about the "open wound." This started about two years ago with the bark falling off. We put an insecticide on the area, but I don't think it helped. We had an arborist look at it and he said to take it down. We really want to keep it if we can. Can it be saved? H.G., Kauneonga Lake

A: This is not a good situation. A tree's bark is like our skin. If it comes off, it exposes the inner layer of live tissue to disease and insect infestation. It does not grow back. A tree will heal around the edges of the wound to prevent further injury or disease, but it will not grow back over a large area.

There are several reasons a tree may lose its bark: insects feeding, disease, lightning, etc. If it were a small area of damaged tree trunk, I would recommend you have an arborist look at it to determine if the tree is still sound, what may have caused the problem and how to treat it. However, what you are describing sounds beyond repair. I strongly recommend you take the tree down and plant another in its place. It sounds like a real danger to people and property.

Q: I planted pumpkin seeds and now I am getting cucumbers. There is no way that I planted cucumbers. I saved the seed myself. They are growing in containers with fresh soil, etc. How could this have happened? Could it have cross-pollinated with my neighbor's cucumbers?

A: Even though cucumbers and pumpkins are in the cucurbit family, they cannot cross-pollinate. Squash can cross with other squash, and cukes with other cukes, but not with each other. Think of it this way: Cardinals and blue jays are both birds, but they cannot mate with each other. Somehow cucumber seeds got into the pots where you planted pumpkin seeds. Did you use compost. Do you have squirrels, chipmunks or mice around? Any old soil left in the pots that may have contained other seed? Someone playing a joke on you? It is a mystery, but the pumpkin seeds did not produce cucumbers.

Q: The leaves on my tomato plants are turning yellow. I sprayed it with Sevin, but it did not help. What is wrong? M.B., Glen Spey

A: First, do not spray plants with anything if you don't know what the problem is. If you use an insecticide and the problem is a disease, it won't help. You will just put unnecessary chemicals in the air, water and earth. That said, I am not able to identify the problem with your tomato plants without seeing a sample of the leaves. There are many reasons that leaves turn yellow. Are there spots? Is it yellowing from the edge of the leaf inward? Are the older leaves turning yellow and working its way up the plant? You can go to the Web site www.aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tomatoproblemsolver for some very good pictures that may help you identify the problem.

Q: I have a problem with mice and want to trap them before the winter sets in. Last year they made a nice nest at the bottom of a shrub and did a lot of damage to the bark. What kind of bait should I use? R.F., Thompsonville

A: Mice can carry ticks and other diseases up close to our homes. They also can chew the bark of trees and shrubs while under the snow cover during the winter, often girdling them, resulting in the tree or shrub dying. Contrary to popular belief, cheese is not good mouse bait. It's not in their normal diet. Mice feed on grains and seeds. I have had very good luck using peanut butter along with some birdseed sprinkled on it to really entice them.

"The ABC's of Gardening" is submitted by the master gardeners of the Cornell Cooperative Extensions of Orange, Sullivan and Ulster Counties, on a rotating basis, in response to questions from callers to the Master Gardener Volunteer Helpline. Marianna Quartararo is the community horticulture educator at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County.

Upcoming events

"Going Underground": Root cellars. 10-11:30 a.m. Aug. 23.

Maple Confections II Workshop: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 6. Lunch provided.

"Baking With Herbs": 6-8 p.m. Sept. 11

All of the above are being held at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County office, 64 Ferndale Loomis Road, Liberty. For more information or to register, call 292-6180.